When the earth-and-rock dam that held back millions of cubic metres of mine waste and effluent at Imperial Metal’s Mount Polley mine failed in 2014, it left the mining industry in B.C. and Canada shaken.

When the earth-and-rock dam that held back millions of cubic metres of mine waste and effluent at Imperial Metal’s Mount Polley mine failed in 2014, it left the mining industry in B.C. and Canada shaken.

One of the largest dam failures in the world in the past 50 years, it sparked concern among the public, environmental groups and First Nations that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon that use the Quesnel Lake system to spawn in the B.C. Interior.

Studies on the effects of the spill are expected to last for years.

In the aftermath of the spill — and heading into the May 9 election — the B.C. Liberals continue to be strong proponents of mining.

In their platform, the Liberals say they want to see eight new mines created by 2020, and point to new mines opened under their tenure and those under construction, including the $811-million Brucejack underground gold mine in northern B.C.

The NDP and Green party also say they support the mining sector, but are advocating for more on-the-ground oversight, with additional inspectors, to monitor mines.

In the riding of Cariboo North, where mining dates back to the Barkerville gold rush in the 1800s, the sector promises well-paying jobs and economic spinoffs just as the region is facing fallout from decreasing timber supply from the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

Cariboo North Liberal incumbent Coralee Oakes would not respond, however, to a request for comment on the mining industry and fallout from the Mount Polley disaster. During a more than two-week period, Liberal headquarters and her campaign office did not make her available for an interview requested by Postmedia.

Oakes is likely to be in a tight race with NDP candidate Scott Elliott, as the riding as been won by only a few hundreds of votes in the past two elections.

Elliot said the jobs that mining promise for the region are important, particularly as the unemployment rate has shot up to 10 per cent.

“We need to have mining. There’s no question about it,” said Elliott, a Quesnel city councillor.

The Cariboo North riding is home to the Mount Polley gold and copper mine, where Imperial Metals has spent $67 million on clean-up and restoration, and also to Taseko’s Gibraltar gold and copper mine.

A major proposal — New Gold’s $2.1-billion Blackwater gold and copper mine — is in the western corner of the riding.

However, Elliott said there needs to be more oversight of mines. “That’s extremely important. We need more boots on the ground with the inspectors,” said Elliott.

The NDP have promised to create a mining jobs task force to find ways to keep jobs secure when commodity prices dip, and to increase safety with an independent mining oversight unit.

The party also says it will amend the environmental assessment process to respect the legal rights of First Nations and meet the public’s expectation of a strong, transparent process.

The Green party also say natural resource jobs are important for B.C.

The party states it will establish a natural resource sector-wide compliance and enforcement unit, backed by an additional $20 million in funding.

“Mining is important. Gibraltar and Mount Polley — that’s a lot of jobs. It just comes down to responsible mining,” said Richard Jaques, the riding’s Green party candidate who lives in the Lower Mainland.

The B.C. Liberal government took steps to increase safety in the mining sector in response to the 2014 Mount Polley mine dam failure.

The changes are also a response to B.C. Auditor General Carol Belringer’s report in March 2016, which concluded that compliance and enforcement was lacking in B.C.’s mining sector.

The Liberals have added funding for compliance, tightened up mine permit rules, as well as adding new powers that don’t require the province to go to court to levy fines.

But not all First Nations, area residents and environmentalists are happy with the Liberals’ approach.

Some area residents were not happy when the province approved discharging effluent from Mount Polley directly into Quesnel Lake after it has been treated. When the mine was planned, no water was supposed to be discharged into the lake.

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